Lightweight, low-cost, and high-endurance edge AI products—AI glasses and toys are approaching a tipping point for large-scale deployment.
“Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles, and traveling thousands of miles is not as good as meeting countless people.”
At the recent “2025 Integrated Circuit Development Forum (Chengdu-Chongqing) and the 31st Integrated Circuit Design Industry Exhibition,” Dai Weimin, founder, chairman, and president of Chipone Technology, vividly reflected the three core stages of AI development with a popular saying.In his view, AI is evolving from a single modality to a multi-modal approach, from knowledge accumulation to deep scene perception, and edge AI will be the key to future commercial expansion.
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AI Evolution: From Cloud to EdgeIn his speech titled “Chipone AI ASIC Platform Empowering Edge AIGC,” Dai Weimin systematically elaborated on the trend of AI moving from centralized cloud to distributed terminals.He metaphorically compared the AIGC ecosystem to a large tree: the “roots” represent computing power, the “trunk” is the general large model training card, while the fine-tuning cards for domain-specific models and the inference cards for application ends constitute the “branches” and “leaves.” The vast market value surrounding the “branches and leaves” is the key to the future large-scale deployment and commercialization of edge AI.Dai Weimin predicts that by 2028, sales of fine-tuning cards and inference cards for edge AI will exceed those for cloud-side training cards. This judgment stems from the clear advantages of edge AI in terms of low latency, privacy protection, cost, and local operation.Data from research institutions also corroborate this trend. According to IBS, by 2035, AI-related chips will account for 77.7% of the semiconductor market share, and the widespread adoption of edge AI devices will become the core driving force for growth in the semiconductor market.
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AI Glasses: Lightweight and Low Cost are KeyDai Weimin particularly emphasized that AI glasses represent an important incremental market for edge AI. He proposed clear criteria for the large-scale shipment of AI glasses: they must support edge-side small model processing and 1080 image processing, cost below 2000 yuan, weigh less than 30 grams, and have a comprehensive usage time of over 8 hours.These criteria directly address the pain points of the current AI glasses market. Industry analysis indicates that weights exceeding 30 grams will negatively impact user experience. Additionally, chips, as the main component of AI glasses’ costs, need to find a balance between high performance and low cost.The market outlook is promising. According to Wellsenn XR data, global AI glasses sales are expected to reach 1.52 million units in 2024, with projections of 3.5 million units in 2025 and a surge to 60 million units by 2029.The IDC report indicates that the domestic AI glasses market is expected to exceed 20 billion yuan in 2024, with exponential growth projected to reach a scale of 120 billion yuan by 2030.
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AI Toys: A Trillion-Dollar Market is About to ExplodeIn addition to AI glasses, Dai Weimin is optimistic about the enormous potential of the AI toy market. He pointed out that compared to traditional toys, AI toys feature multi-modal interaction, computer vision, adaptive learning, and content-end services.Toys empowered by AI will undergo a disruptive transformation, serving not only as tools for children’s education and companionship but also providing emotional management options for adults.Research data shows that the AI toy market has already surpassed 10 billion yuan in 2023, and it is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 50%. This growth rate indicates a strong market demand for intelligent toys.The core advantage of AI toys lies in their interactivity and adaptability. Through multi-modal AI foundational models, smart toys can provide functions such as Q&A, summarization, real-time subtitles, content creation, zero-distance learning, scene/object recognition, and action recognition.Based on these models, AI toys can capture and understand user behavior, achieving true intelligent interaction.
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In the future envisioned by Dai Weimin:AI glasses will achieve large-scale popularity at the critical point of under 2000 yuan, under 30 grams, and 8 hours of battery life;AI toys will drive towards a trillion-dollar market under the dual engines of educational companionship and emotional management.For more historical articles about AI toysLearn about an AI product—AIBI Pocket Pet, which sold 850,000 unitsNot just competing on parameters but on “temperature”: Ropet validates the commercial value of emotional AIDon’t just focus on Labubu; AI is revolutionizing the toy industryFollow me, and let’s touch the future of AI together!#AI Glasses #AI Toys #Edge AI #2025 Integrated Circuit Development Forum #Dai Weimin